Bob McCarty Writes

Thankfully, Al Franken will have nothing to do with counting Heisman Trophy ballots.  If, however, record-setting Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford isn’t named the winner of college football’s Heisman Trophy Dec. 13 in New York City, the joke is likely to be on voters.

Oklahoma Sooners QB Sam Bradford

In Saturday night’s Big 12 Championship at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Bradford did his best to put a lock on the Heisman Trophy by throwing for two touchdowns while completing 34 of 49 attempts for 384 passing yards.  When the night was over, his #2 Oklahoma Sooners had wiped out the #20 Missouri Tigers, 62-21.

In compiling a 12-1 record, Bradford stands as the nation’s top quarterback in two categories — passer rating (186.29) and touchdowns (48).  (Note: Check out Bradford’s complete stats at ESPN.com.)  In posting the 41-point margin of victory over the Chase Daniels-led Tigers, Bradford’s team became the first in NCAA history to score more than 60 points in five consecutive games (Note: Six games ago, they scored 58 points).  That stat adds to another record they set — 702 points in a season — as the highest-scoring team in college football history.

Click to see Sam Bradford's stats at ESPN.com

Anyone who looks objectively at both the stats and at Bradford’s consistently-solid performances should realize he deserves this year’s Heisman more than any of his chief quarterback competitors (i.e., Florida’s Tim Tebow, Texas’ Colt McCoy, Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell et al).  If, however, too many Heisman voters fall into the anti-Bradford mindset evident to anyone watching ESPN’s SportsCenter for more than 30 seconds, the college football world is likely to see college football history repeat itself (i.e. “the joke”).

In 2000, Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel — now Bradford’s position coach — was overlooked for the Heisman Trophy.  A few weeks later, however, he led his team to its seventh national championship, defeating Florida State, 13-2, in the Orange Bowl.

If, indeed, history repeats itself, I’ll be fine with that and Bradford will have the last laugh.  He does, after all, have two years remaining at OU.

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See also: Oklahoma Sooners Rout Missouri Tigers, 62-21

See also:  BCS Title Game Set, #1 Oklahoma vs. #2 Florida

See also:  Texas Fans Suffer From ‘Irritable Bowl Syndrome’

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UPDATE 12/13/08: Sam Bradford Wins the Heisman Trophy!